Clippings for September 5

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Palin: Wrong Woman, Wrong Message
Gloria Steinem write in The Los Angeles Times: "Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing - the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party - are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women - and to many men too - who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the 'white-male-only' sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes."

Making Goliath Walk
David Sirota comments on Truthdig.com: "'This is a David-and-Goliath confrontation, but we believe we'll have enough stones in the sling to knock this out.' That is a recent statement from the US Chamber of Commerce when asked whether business lobbyists will defeat the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) - a labor-backed bill that cribs from Canadian law and makes joining a union a tiny bit easier. In the imminent confrontation over this almost embarrassingly modest proposal, corporations are actually billing themselves as the underdog - the poor, overmatched peasant David against the Philistine monster Goliath."

Analysis: Myth that Offshore Drilling Would Lower Gas Prices Get Boost from Major Media
The media has played a significant role in convincing Americans that offshore drilling for oil in the United States could significantly lower the price of gasoline, according to an analysis released today by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Fox Attacks Obama like Kerry


Sex Education as Liberation
Courtney E. Martin writes for The American Prospect: "Young women learn to see their bodies as ticking time bombs and young men to see theirs as the uncontrollable fire that could lead to explosion. Instead of promoting self-awareness, responsible exploration, respect for the diversity of sexualities, or compassionate communication, we teach them that their bodies are dangerous. Conservatives want that danger staved off until marriage, where it suddenly becomes holy, and liberals want it staved off along the way - through the use of accessible contraception."

Iraq from the Inside
Truthdig.com's most recent podcast features Iraqi journalist Huda Ahmed. In 2007 she received the Courage Award for Journalism for her coverage of the war in Iraq. Now a refugee, she looks back on more than five years of war and occupation from an Iraqi perspective.

John McCain's Dereliction of Duty
Cliff Schecter writes for In These Times: "At a town hall meeting in Denver in early July, a Vietnam veteran asked presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) why he had opposed increasing healthcare for veterans whenever Congress had taken up the issue over the past six years. McCain virtually ignored the man's question, dissembling his opposition to an updated GI Bill for veterans. After the questioner challenged McCain's response, the senator reacted as he usually does when queried beyond his comfort level: He got visibly angry. Because McCain is running for president almost solely on his biography as a war hero, he can't - and won't - allow the slightest doubt to linger about his dedication to soldiers both past and present."